diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 9415c4d44fb..68d0a4fe64e 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -244,6 +244,21 @@ include(cmake/library.cmake)
 include(cmake/exec.cmake)
 include(cmake/plugin.cmake)
 
+##############################################################################
+# FreeBSD - use epoll-shim
+##############################################################################
+set(EPOLL_LIB "")
+if("${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME}" STREQUAL "FreeBSD")
+  find_path(EPOLL_SHIM_INCLUDE_DIR NAMES sys/epoll.h HINTS /usr/local/include/libepoll-shim)
+  find_library(EPOLL_SHIM_LIB NAMES epoll-shim HINTS /usr/local/lib)
+
+  if(EPOLL_SHIM_INCLUDE_DIR AND EPOLL_SHIM_LIB)
+    message(STATUS "Found epoll-shim in ${EPOLL_SHIM_INCLUDE_DIR}")
+    include_directories(${EPOLL_SHIM_INCLUDE_DIR})
+    string(JOIN " " EPOLL_LIB "${EPOLL_SHIM_LIB}")
+  endif()
+endif()
+
 ##############################################################################
 # subdirs - order matters
 ##############################################################################
diff --git a/src/vlib/CMakeLists.txt b/src/vlib/CMakeLists.txt
index 61e8ba7dd78..7ec9b2050e9 100644
--- a/src/vlib/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/vlib/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ add_vpp_library(vlib
   API_FILES
   pci/pci_types.api
 
-  LINK_LIBRARIES vppinfra svm ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS}
+  LINK_LIBRARIES vppinfra svm ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS} ${EPOLL_LIB}
 
   DEPENDS api_headers
 )
diff --git a/src/vpp/CMakeLists.txt b/src/vpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 37f57ac7823..84144e4d059 100644
--- a/src/vpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/vpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ endif()
 add_vpp_executable(vpp
   ENABLE_EXPORTS
   SOURCES ${VPP_SOURCES}
-  LINK_LIBRARIES svm vlib vppinfra vlibmemory vnet Threads::Threads ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS}
+  LINK_LIBRARIES svm vlib vppinfra vlibmemory vnet Threads::Threads ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS} ${EPOLL_LIB}
   DEPENDS vpp_version_h api_headers
 )
 
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ add_vpp_executable(vpp
 ##############################################################################
 add_vpp_executable(vppctl
   SOURCES app/vppctl.c
-  LINK_LIBRARIES vppinfra
+  LINK_LIBRARIES vppinfra ${EPOLL_LIB}
 )
 
 ##############################################################################
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ add_vpp_executable(vpp_get_stats
 
 add_vpp_executable(vpp_prometheus_export
   SOURCES app/vpp_prometheus_export.c
-  LINK_LIBRARIES vppapiclient vppinfra svm vlibmemoryclient
+  LINK_LIBRARIES vppapiclient vppinfra svm vlibmemoryclient ${EPOLL_LIB}
   DEPENDS api_headers
 )